Was global superstar Antoine Griezmann one of the attempted West Ham United signings David Moyes recently hinted at?
Just before the window closed last week the Scot told reporters that people would “burst out laughing” if they knew who West Ham had bid for over summer.
And the Hammers boss admitted he may have been guilty of going for players out of West Ham’s reach.
“We’ve bid for a lot of players and if I told you who, you would burst out laughing and say ‘you’re kidding’,” Moyes said last week (The Independent).
“Maybe we’ve tried to go way above our station, but we have tried to get really top players because I knew we needed it.”
West Ham ended up signing eight players to the tune of over £170m.
But Moyes also admitted he went for many more saying he ‘lost count’ of the number of players West Ham tried to sign.
The vast majority of those names appear to have come out in the wash during the usual media frenzy over the course of the transfer window.
There is one illustrious name that has come to light since the window closed, though, Atletico Madrid and France star Antoine Griezmann.
‘You’d laugh’ Was global superstar Antoine Griezmann the attempted West Ham signing David Moyes hinted at?
So was global superstar Griezmann one of the attempted West Ham signings Moyes hinted at when he told the press ‘you’d laugh’?
It seems fair to assume that given the claims emerging from Spain which stated Man United, Chelsea and Juventus were also interested.
Griezmann, 31, is currently half-way through a two-year loan spell at Atletico from Barcelona.
The alleged West Ham target’s bizarre contract situation at Atletico has come to light in recent weeks.
And that too could have been a key factor behind West Ham reportedly trying to sign him.
Atletico’s deal for the Frenchman would be made permanent if certain conditions are met, which includes a certain number of minutes in his second season in the Spanish capital.
Griezmann must play 45 minutes in 14 of Atletico’s matches, which would trigger a clause in his contract. Griezmann is yet to start for Diego Simeone’s side, coming on for Atletico, coming on after 60 minutes of their matches in the new campaign.
It means the club would have to pay Barca £35million (€40m) to secure him on a permanent basis in 2023.
Given the kind of money West Ham spent on players over the summer, they would have been able to afford that figure if they did indeed approach Barca over a deal.
The reports in Spain claim Griezmann made it clear he had no desire to leave Atletico, though.
The Griezmann West Ham claims may seem somewhat outlandish.
But they certainly appear to tally with an admission from the recent admission from Moyes.
In the end West Ham signed the likes of Lucas Paqueta for a similar initial outlay in a deal which could reach over £50m with add-ons.
And at 25, with his best years ahead of him, the Brazil international is a much wiser investment for West Ham than someone like Griezmann would have been.
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